The Never Ending News

With the growth of the internet, blogging and social media, the everyday news cycle has become a 24 hour a day phenomenon with no start or stop. But what does the modern news cycle mean to journalism as well as the people who help provide the information?

While some might point to the advent of social media as the origin of the 24-hour news cycle, Louise Kehoe, who leads Ogilvy’s West Coast technology practice, said the news always has been that way.

“The more things change the more they stay the same,” Kehoe said. “In the news business, the lights are always on somewhere.”

Kehoe said what has changed is so many more people can have their voices heard, and not everyone has the same tight journalist standards.

“We have to figure out how to handle people who don’t play by the rules,” Kehoe said.

Alex Wellins, co-founder and managing director of The Blueshirt Group, said one way companies can keep from getting burned with the nonstop proliferation of information via blogs and social media is to be careful of the information they put out. He said it is especially important for public companies — who are watched heavily by the SEC — to be careful of what they say, and have social media strategists and rules in place to avoid trouble.

“Things like social media create opportunities, but there also is a cost involved,” Wellins added.

Looking to the future of news, most felt there will likely be some kind of shake out as far as where people go to get their news and who is trusted.

Post navigation

2 Responses to The Never Ending News

In the news business, the lights might have been on somewhere, but nobody read about it or heard about it on the news until the NEXT day if it happened between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.! (I know. I laid out the pages of what other people wrote for the printing press a long, long time ago!)